Practice Notebook - Nov. 2, 2022

WINNIPEG -Jansen Harkins isn't sure what lies ahead, but while he's with the Winnipeg Jets he's going to make use of every opportunity.
Harkins was recalled from the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday as an emergency recall, with defenceman Logan Stanley being placed on injured reserve retroactive to October 25.
In six games with the Moose so far this season, Harkins has nine points - which leads the team - and through that span, he also had a five-game goal streak.
"I have a lot of respect for the AHL and the guys that come through there," said Harkins of the AHL, where he's now played 162 games in his career. "I just try to be the best player I can be down there, which I feel like with the roles I was given and the players I was playing with, it made my job a lot easier."

Head coach Rick Bowness spoke with Harkins at the end of camp when he was reassigned, and was one of the first to talk with Harkins prior to practice.
"Harks has been their best forward the last couple of games," said Bowness. "He feels very good about himself, he feels very good about his play, he feels very good about his contributions to the team. It's a good time for us, if he gets a chance to play, to get a good look at him."
There were a number of absences Wednesday. Mason Appleton missed his second consecutive practice (he left Tuesday's skate because he wasn't feeling well), and joining him on the sidelines today were Pierre-Luc Dubois, Blake Wheeler, Josh Morrissey, and Morgan Barron.

Bowness said at this point, all those players are expected to play against Montreal on Thursday, with the exception of Barron.
"Just an upper body injury that's been nagging at him and we've got to figure out what to do with it," said Bowness, adding surgery wasn't something on the table.
With all those absences, the line rushes were a little jumbled:
Connor-Scheifele-Gagner
Perfetti-Lowry-Maenalanen
Harkins-Gustafsson-Jonsson-Fjallby/Toninato
Schmidt-Pionk (Capobianco rotating in)
Dillon-DeMelo (Samberg rotating in)
The simple goal for Harkins - who got the call about joining the Jets while he was driving to the rink for Moose practice - was to get on the ice, get a good sweat in, and wait to see if he's needed in the line-up on Thursday.
"I'm not going to try to get too far ahead of myself," he said. "All I have to do is come here, work hard and try to show what I can do. That's kind of just what I've done."

ON YOUR TOES
Much of the focus the last two days has been on revving up the battle and emotion level. Tuesday's skate involved 2-on-2 drills in a small area, while Wednesday saw those drills move to a full-ice version.
"We want to play the game on our toes. I hate when we're on our heels. It drives me crazy," said Bowness. "It has to be more of an aggressive mindset when the puck drops. It's not a reaction. You're prepared for that."
The Jets will happily take the five points they earned on the three-game road trip, but they're well aware that improvements need to be made.
"We all kind of knew we didn't play our best," said Mark Scheifele. "You want your coaches to hold you to that standard and not be happy with getting points when you can. Obviously, that's great, but you want coaches to push you for more and challenge you and help you along the way."
The part that Scheifele appreciated was that the players were involved in that conversation with the coaching staff. When they got back to the practice ice in Winnipeg, Bowness was waiting for them.

But the team wasn't met with a rant.
"We're all in this together. It's not, 'This is what it is, go do it because I said so'. It's a conversation," said Scheifele. "He wants to know what the problem is, he wants to know what is going on and what is happening. I think that is what we all want. We want our voices heard. We want to be challenged. We want to be taught."
So after two days of skating, video sessions, and instruction, Bowness feels the team will be ready to take on Montreal on Thursday, a game that opens a three-game home stand.
"I would expect us to come out of the gates hard tomorrow," Bowness said, adding that the morning skate will be optional tomorrow. "If they want to skate, that's fine but we've done what we can to prepare them to play hard tomorrow right off the bat."
WAITING ON EHLERS
Bowness still didn't have an update on Nikolaj Ehlers, who will be meeting with a doctor on Wednesday afternoon.
His lower-body injury, which has kept him out of the past seven games, isn't progressing as quickly as he or the Jets thought.